Ssd

[loafer]

I've been waiting for the Intel Gen 3 SSD to come available - more in the hope that the prices of SSD generally will drop rather than any performance or capacity requirement.

I've become more concerned with the various threads out there on t'internet that cast doubt on the viability of SSD as a storage platform long term.

I want one because it is silent, its new tech, it fast (at least initially) and it works.

I've been reading about performance of 25 vs 34nm NAND, or at least it tailing off quicker. Maybe indicating something with a shorter shelf life.

My usage will be low unless the amount of email I process goes exponential. I don't want something that tails off in performance or needs mothering or has an expected life of 2 years.

As with SandyBridge furore - which I'm ignoring - are my fears being exagerated by the sheer number of posts out there. Should I expect to put an SSD in my box and ignore it for 7 years - cos that is what I want.

Tim

 

[Gorman]

People are comparing SSD's to the stability and long life of the standard mechanical drives. They are two completely different animals.

If you want it to burn bright and dont mind it dieing young then go SSD. If you want rock solid reliability and it to last a long time then mechanical is the only choice, 7200rpm that is. The faster mechanical drives also have shorter life times.

 

[philwil]

People are comparing SSD's to the stability and long life of the standard mechanical drives. They are two completely different animals.

If you want it to burn bright and dont mind it dieing young then go SSD. If you want rock solid reliability and it to last a long time then mechanical is the only choice, 7200rpm that is. The faster mechanical drives also have shorter life times.

Hmm, that makes it sound like SSD is not the recommended way forward. Is there evidence for this? After all, they haven't been on the market very long. Are users already finding they have a limited shelf-life?

 

[Gorman]

The way they work limits the shelf life, the mechanicals will win for some time to come on that front.

Hmm, that makes it sound like SSD is not the recommended way forward.

Nope not at all, they are excellent at what they do. Long term storage / stability / reliability is not what they do.

They deliver insane speeds and are relatively small volumes unless you pay silly money for them compared to a mechanical.

I have always had a small system drive for the os / page file and current programs etc and a larger drive for storage. The SSD i own fits the system drive role very well, blisteringly fast.

 

[LFFPicard]

If I remember rightly from a article i read about the next gen SSD's from Intel.

The shelf life is base don the amount of data written to the drive. Don't quote me but if I remember fromt he article it said something like the current 120gb intel SSD has a life of 7.5tb of writable data. The new drives coming out have increased reliability and have a life of something like 30tb of writable data.

I will have to dig out the article when i get home.

Note: This is WRITABLE data not READABLE so unless you continually format and re-install or uninstall and reinstall programs ALOT the drive shuld last some time.

 

[loafer]

Thanks for the replies. I think I like insane speed enough to live with it.

This is my current planned spec - any comments welcome.
Usage is just the average, so its well overpowered for what I do now. Any major improvements that don't put the price up?

Case
COOLERMASTER SILEO 500 QUIET MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-2400 Quad Core (3.10GHz, 6MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8P67: USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, CrossFireX™ SUPPORT
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
1GB ATI RADEON™ HD5770 - DVI,HDMI,VGA - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
60GB OCZ VERTEX 2 SATA II 2.5" SSD (upto 285MB/sR | 275MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD10EARS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
600W Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£59)
Processor Cooling
INTEL SOCKET LGA1155/1156 STANDARD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 11 to 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £850.00 including VAT and delivery.

 

[Freeley]

Hmm Gorman's advice seems to undermine SSD's somewhat.
I was intending to buy a Gen3 on release, but having already got a dodgy sandy bridge motherboard i don't want to have something else in my system that might go wrong.

 

[Gorman]

Hmm Gorman's advice seems to undermine SSD's somewhat.
I was intending to buy a Gen3 on release, but having already got a dodgy sandy bridge motherboard i don't want to have something else in my system that might go wrong.

The lifespan of SSD's was good enough to convince me to invest in one.

I suppose the question is do you buy a top end sports car for the reliability, or for what it can do?